Samoans soon will not have to leave the country to have a CT scan

Patients in Samoa will soon no longer have to leave the country to have a CT scan.

Samoa's first CT scanner, funded by the Chinese government, is expected to arrive in the country by the end of the year.

The CEO for medical health, Dr Stanley Dean, says most patients have to be sent to American Samoa or New Zealand to have a CT scan performed.

"once we set up the CT scan here, there's no point of sending them over to American Samoa. At the moment the patients pay their own airfare across so it will save them money as well from return airfare to American Samoa.."

Dr Dean says the purchase of the machine includes the maintenance of the equipment.

He says to ensure the equipment's longevity, more than one person will be trained in their upkeep.